PDF Preflight Tools

[betterimp]

I am looking for a simple drag and drop application that would provide a pre-flight report. I have worked with the preflight in Acrobat and Pitstop. I find them to be a little cumbersome, and sometimes the information is too detailed-reports problems that aren't really of concern, and the fixes can cause unexpected results. I think a pre-press person can noodle through these, but I am trying to find a solution that could be utilized on the front end before files go to pre-press perhaps by sales or csr.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[ASchuett]

Hi Mike,
I think with the preflight functions of Acrobat Pro you already own a really good piece of software to fulfill most of your requirements. You're right by claiming that Acrobats default preflights produce a lot of confusing and cryptic messages about things which are not really important while ignoring other things which are in fact important. You should generate your own customized preflight profile that gives you exactly the informations about your PDF files that matter to you.
Check out this link for a quick tutorial about creating your own preflight profile: Customize Preflight Profiles with Acrobat � Layers Magazine

Andre

 

[Stephen Marsh]

I agree with Andre's post 100%. Acrobat Pro is a powerful tool that is often under utilised in many print shops. Before investing in other solutions, see if what you have works and is productive. Then you will have an idea of what other solutions can offer and you will be able to better compare products. Of course, Enfocus have other products such as Connect or InstantPDF in addition to Pitstop. If you have PDF Workflow software such as Kodak Prinergy, then you probably also have preflight/fix too.

When the subject of preflighting comes up, the Ghent PDF Workgroup should probably be mentioned as well:

http://www.gwg.org/applicationsettings.phtml

Before a PDF is even created, there are the live preflight tools of Adobe InDesign. By default the built in preflight of InDesign is very limited (missing fonts and links), however with a few tweaks one can create a custom preflight that is very useful. This can be offered to your customers and may solve many issues before a PDF is even generated.

I have no affiliation with the following product, nor have I used it - however it came to mind in the context of this discussion (a web based SAS product):

Welcome to FixMyPrintFile


Stephen Marsh

 

[leonardr]

I am looking for a simple drag and drop application that would provide a pre-flight report. I have worked with the preflight in Acrobat and Pitstop.

And in case you were not aware, Acrobat's Preflight includes support for creating "droplets" to enable EXACTLY the type of workflow you are asking for here.

 

[davidmwe]

FlightCheck for PDF preflight

FlightCheck for PDF preflight

Hi OP, try FlightCheck:
Markzware FlightCheck (Preflight) Product Page

This is a simple, easy-to-use, stand-alone preflight application which will check PDFs and native source files alike. (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, QuarkXPress, etc). It speaks in a simple language and allows you to drill in deeper, if needed and you can start the preflight with a simply dragging and dropping the PDF or design file onto the FlightCheck application icon.

Check out the Ground Controls in the 30-deay demo of FlightCheck, for there you can adjust them for a PDF workflow or for a native design flow.

I work for Markzware, so do not take my word, please try the demo and report back, if you have time.

Cheers,
David Dilling
Markzware

 

[betterimp]

FlightCheck

FlightCheck

Hi David,

Yes, I remember FlightCheck. I have an old version (really old). I assume it is too old for an upgrade.....?

My only objection is the price tag. It is not too much for say a pre-press seat, but to distribute to sales and csrs.....price starts to add up. I'm not sure what your price plan is for multiple licenses. If like most software products, you have to have a lot of seats to get any real advantage.

Thanks,

Mike

Also noticed pdftoindesign. That looks interesting!

Hi OP, try FlightCheck:
Markzware FlightCheck (Preflight) Product Page

This is a simple, easy-to-use, stand-alone preflight application which will check PDFs and native source files alike. (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, QuarkXPress, etc). It speaks in a simple language and allows you to drill in deeper, if needed and you can start the preflight with a simply dragging and dropping the PDF or design file onto the FlightCheck application icon.

Check out the Ground Controls in the 30-deay demo of FlightCheck, for there you can adjust them for a PDF workflow or for a native design flow.

I work for Markzware, so do not take my word, please try the demo and report back, if you have time.

Cheers,
David Dilling
Markzware

 

[zevrix]

First, I agree that Acrobat Pro has an extremely powerful and versatile preflight feature.

However, if it's an overkill for you I recommend to take a look at our PDF Checkpoint:

Automate PDF preflight and conversion | PDF Checkpoint

PDF Checkpoint is a simple tool to batch preflight and convert PDFs. It can also generate reports on the fly and route PDF files according to preflight results.

You can run it as a fully functional trial for 30 days.

Thanks,

Leo Revzin
--
Zevrix Solutions
Solutions for Graphics, Print & File Delivery
Solutions for Adobe InDesign, Graphics, Print & File Delivery | Zevrix Solutions

 

[abc]

Hi Mike
Speaking from an Enfocus perspective this is a pretty normal thing, I guess what you are looking for is a simple vanilla 'are the important things ok' check for sales and CSR's. resolution, fonts embedded, maybe RGB and a few other things. You want to be sure that the file is in a reasonable shape before it goes into prepress and get back to customers quickly if there are any showstopper issues.

This can be done easily in PitStop you just need to make a preflight check with fixes turned off, and just check for the things you deem important. You can make it as simple or as detailed as you want. It's very straightforward

Also something to think about, depending on how many CSR's/Sales you want involved it could be very cost effective to go to a server based solution not a desktop one.

The way I would see it working is as follows.
Each team member has a hotfolder on their desktop, they drop files into it, these get preflighted and the Preflight reports come back into an output folder also mounted on their desktop, all the ok ones are good to go, the error ones they can open in (free) Acrobat reader and see the issues.

Benefits are you only need to configure the system in one place and not run around everyone's desktop managing individual applications, and it also means that people can't fiddle and change things without your knowledge. Plus it's not a manual process to check the file, it's a drag and drop and then pick up the result when it's ready. No waiting around or time wasting.

I've seen this type of solution at several printers and it really speeds up feedback to customers and ensures that files are workable once they enter prepress.

The reporting is important as well, we do have a low res annotated PDF report which the CSR can email back to the customer, this really helps communication as the customer can easily see where the problem elements are, and as it works with the free Acrobat reader anyone can open it and see the issues.

Just my two cents, there are many ways to skin a cat, it's just finding what suits you and your business best.

If you need any details or want a free 30 day test version let me know.

regards

abc

 

[Chief_1975]

I would be good if you could buy pitstop server with just the checking & reporting functionality, I would want the fixes done on the origination files not the PDF output.

 

[abc]

Chief, that's possible in the current version.
You are in control of what happens.
Just turn all the fixes off, this is quite common.
In magazine printing for example it's rare for a printer to take responsibility for fixes, they just check and make sure the files are correct to specification when they arrive.
If not they are normally 'return to sender'